A Day at the Beach
by StelenaEpicBeauty
Summary: Sam wants Jason to know that she's finally found happiness ... A bittersweet one shot. Hints of Jasam.


**A Day at the Beach**

The crystal blue water was crashing against the surf hypnotically before them as Sam Quartermaine and her family dropped their towels down onto the sand and AJ deposited the big red cooler there, too. Sam adjusted her string bikini and noticed AJ watching her appreciatively under his eyelashes. Time had not dulled his attraction to her, or his love. And yes, she knew it was love. It was amazing, though, to think sometimes that two such fundamentally screwed up people could get things right but they had. Or they were at least trying. AJ had been sober since the night Sam told him she was carrying the twins and she had changed in many ways she had never expected to.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Danny walking over to her. "Mom, can we go in the water now?" The eight year old boy asked. His eyes were bluer than the ocean by far and he was the spitting image of his birth father right down to the lanky build and impossibly spiky blonde hair.

"Sunscreen first," Sam said and the kids all groaned.

"You will thank me when you're fifty," Sam said with a smile as she reached for Emily Ann and Jackson. The dark-haired five year olds squirmed in her arms as she lathered their soft, baby skin with thick white cream. AJ tried to help Danny with the sunscreen though he mostly insisted on doing it on his own. When Danny was done, he looked at Sam again.

"Can we go now – please?" He pleaded. Sam called him her water baby because he was the only one she didn't have to wrestle into the tub at night.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, but stay close to Daddy AJ."

"We will," Emily Ann promised with a toothy grin. She then latched onto her father's left hand while Jackson grabbed his other hand.

"You're not coming?" AJ asked.

"No I thought I'd lie out."

AJ smirked. "We came two-thousand miles just for you to get a tan." He shook his head but humor danced in his eyes. He then turned to the kids. "Come on, everyone."

Sam watched AJ and her three little ones head for the waves and she smiled as she flopped on her still-taut stomach, watching them play for a long time with her chin resting on her arms.

XoXoXo

At some point she must have drowsed off, because she heard a voice calling her name from what seemed like so far away. She stirred in response to the soft, lulling tone. She popped her eyes open and couldn't believe who she saw approaching her.

"Jason! Ohmigod, Jason!" she cried in surprise. She scrambled off her towel and ran to him throwing her arms around him and holding him so tightly. He held her against him as tears came to her eyes.

"What – how?" She asked. "What are you doing the Caribbean?" She had so many questions but as she looked up into his eyes, she saw a softness there that startled her. "Wait, this is a dream, isn't it?"

"It doesn't matter," Jason said. He took her hand and led her back over to the towel where he tugged her down beside him.

Sam wiped at her eyes which were misty with tears. "I should have known it was a dream. I mean, you're dressed in Bermuda shorts and a wife beater. You would never…" Her voice trailed off as she slipped her hand into his. "I am not going to second guess this. I am just going to enjoy it while it lasts. I have so much to tell you."

Jason nodded. "I bet." His eyes moved towards the surf where Danny was building a soggy sandcastle. "Is that – is that him?"

"Our Danny," Sam said with a nod. "That's him. He's amazing, Jason. Just like you in every way. He's smart and he's sweet and he will do anything for his siblings."

"Siblings," Jason murmured. "You had other kids."

"Twins," Sam said and motioned to the little boy and girl approaching Danny. Jackson, ever the mischievous one, stomped his foot right into the middle of Danny's sandcastle. They couldn't read Danny's expression at this distance but he didn't seem to get angry and he wasn't shouting about his destroyed creation.

"He's gentle," Jason murmured.

"Yeah he is," Sam said. "Like I said he loves his siblings. Protects them like no one's business."

Jason looked at Danny in awe. "He's … beautiful." Jason's eyes darkened a bit in shade and he looked away. He still hated for Sam to see him cry. "What are your kids' names?"

"Jackson and Emily Ann."

"Emily … After my sister?"

"Uh huh," Sam said. "I kind of assumed if you were in heaven or something you'd know all of this already."

"I do know it but I like hearing you talk," Jason said.

"Then you don't have to," Sam laughed. "You're just the same."

Jason smiled. "Who's the guy? Who is your twins' father?"

"Jason …" Sam's heart clenched in her chest. "Don't be hurt."

Jason made no promises. He said nothing as he waited for her to continue. "It's AJ. Your brother. He came back from the dead, I guess you'd say, though it turns out he never really was gone. Not like you… You're really gone aren't you?"

He nodded. "Yes I am."

A tear rolled down Sam's cheek and Jason caught it with a gentle, warm thumb. Sam smiled at him. "AJ turned out to be a pretty big surprise in my life, to say the least. I was so determined to hate him for all he did to you…" Her voice trailed off for a moment before she could continue. "I tried so hard to move on after I realized you were never coming back. I even dated John McBain for a while but for some reason, it just didn't work out. We parted as friends. He went back to Llanview for his son. I tried single motherhood for a while and was doing okay with it but as Danny got older and I saw him making all these strides, I kept thinking of you, Jason. How much you had missed out on and how much Danny was missing out on. One night that kind of drove me to the brink of insanity and I ended up drowning my sorrows at The Floating Rib. AJ was there. He had tried a relationship with Carly again – shocking I know with their history – and it blew up when she went back to Todd. We were both hurting – a lot. We got really drunk and we … Well, you get the picture…"

Jason nodded. "I get it."

"When I woke up with him in a bed above the bar I was so horrified. He was not only an enemy, he was your brother. I felt so sick. How had I betrayed you like that, you know?" She sniffled. "We yelled accusations at each other. I claimed he had had some grand master plan to seduce me to pay you back, even in death. I was really crazy that morning. He called me a crazy bitch and that's what I was. Three weeks later I got really sick and my mom insisted I see the doctor. Lo and behold, I was pregnant. And of course, there hadn't been anyone else in so long so …"

"AJ was your babies' father."

Sam nodded and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she stared forward where AJ was emerging from the surf. In spite of herself, in spite of Jason's presence, a smile came to her lips. "You love him," Jason said.

"Yeah. But I honestly didn't at first. I kept the truth about the babies a secret for as long as I could but of course I started to show and he put two and two together and demanded to know if my child was his. I couldn't deny him anymore so I told him the truth. And that there wasn't just one baby, but two. He was humbled, I could tell, and he started making a bunch of promises and even tried popping the question. I turned him down but did say if he wanted to be involved in our kids' lives, he had to give up drinking for good. And believe it or not, he did. He's a wonderful father to the twins – and to Danny. Danny really adores him too." She watched Jason's expression. "You're not mad I let him into Danny's life?"

"No," Jason said. "He treats you all right, I am guessing, or you wouldn't be with him."

"Yeah, Jason, he does," Sam replied. "He treats us all really good. I wouldn't have married him if he didn't. And I didn't marry him until the twins were almost two. It took me a good long time to realize I was really in love with AJ. I couldn't admit it to myself because I was scared. Scared I was betraying you and even more scared that I would lose him too."

Jason squeezed her hand. "I never wanted to leave you and Danny."

"I know," Sam said. "I used to have dreams like this all the time where I got to see you again. When I found out you were definitely Danny's father, I dreamt of telling you… But the dreams stopped for a really long time. Why did they start up again now?"

"Why do you think?" Jason said gently.

Another tear dripped down Sam's cheek. "Because I want you to be happy for me, Jason. I am incredibly happy. This whole vacation I have been so deliriously happy and I guess I want to know…"

"I know and it's okay, Sam, it's okay for you to be happy. I want you to be. I am glad you're moving on and that AJ is helping you do that."

"I will always love you. There's a special place for you, always in my heart."

"I love you too, Sam," Jason said. He reached out and tangled his hands in her hair, resting his forehead against hers. "I'm okay, Sam," he said hoarsely. "You can let me go. I am happy. I'm with Jake and Emily and Lila, our Lila."

"Oh how is she?"

"Wonderful. I tell her everyday how much you loved her."

"I do the same with Danny …" Sam's smile was watery. "Tell her I will be with her someday."

Jason nodded. "I promise I will." He pulled her close and placed a gentle, butterfly-soft kiss on her lips. When he pulled back his eyes were misty too. "I have to go now but remember, I will always love you and Danny. And I'm really proud of you."

Sam wanted to ask him to stay but realized it was probably for the best. She watched him stand and then was shocked to see him remove his wedding ring. "Jason –"

"So you have something tangible," he said quietly. "So you'll know."

"Know what?"

"That I was really here," Jason whispered. He then held out the ring. She held out her trembling hand and he put the ring in it, gently closing her tiny fingers around the golden band. His fingers then fell away and he whispered, "Goodbye, Sam," before heading back down the beach. It was mere moments before he had melded into the setting sun.

XoXoXo

"Mom, wake up!" A soft voice said. Sam stirred and lifted her face from where she had obviously fallen asleep on her arms.

"Hey, Danny," she said, blinking at the bright sunlight. "What's up?" She felt shaky as she pulled herself to a sitting position on her towel.

"You were crying in your sleep. I was coming back from the bathroom… Are you sad?"

"These are happy tears actually, Danny," she said as she unfurled her hand and saw that sure enough, Jason's gold band was sitting in her palm. She dabbed at her face.

"What do you have there?" Danny asked in wide-eyed wonder.

"A treasure," she whispered. Inside she was so relieved he could see it too. That meant Jason really had been there, somehow , in some inexplicable way. It meant he really was truly happy for her. For all of them. And he really was at peace too.

"Where'd you find it? In the sand?"

"No," Sam said. "Someone gave it to me."

"Who?"

Sam smiled. "I promise to tell you about it sometime. For now go play in the water. You only live once."

Danny looked at her strangely but nodded. He offered her a smile and then ran for AJ and the twins. Sam watched the sun and clutched the ring in her hand. "Thank you, Jason," she whispered. "I will never forget the gift you gave me today."

FINIS


End file.
